Chilean Sea Bass Over A Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Medley
Beautiful, succulent dishes don’t have to be difficult. Although my photo isn’t much to be desired this dish is. I’m still struggling with my camera. While this photo appeared to look perfect when shot, I sat down to enjoy the meal while still warm, and after indulging, I uploaded the photos to my computer, only to see that most were not clear.
I hated to just scrap this dish and not share it with you. So I decided to use this photo (the best of the lot) in hopes that you all would get an idea of how it should look, and be plated – a sprinkling of fresh herbs on top would be nice as well. Mostly though, I wanted to share with you how simple this is to prepare – especially for those of you terrified of cooking fish.
The technique for cooking this fish isn’t “poaching” since that would require the fish to cook gently in liquid just below the boiling point, when the liquid’s surface is beginning to show some quivering movement. Instead I suppose I could call it “steeping” even though we’re not looking to add flavor to the water.
The recipe below is prepared in three (3) separate steps, each quite simple to master. Once completed the dish will magically disappear before your eyes – it’s that good!
If you’ve never had Sea Bass before it’s a mild, yet buttery flavored fish. I consider it the Rolls Royce of the sea!
Although I’ve added little to no seasoning, IMO it really doesn’t need it. All the ingredients together create a wonderful clean flavor!
Read below to learn my simple technique for cooking the Sea Bass, along with the rest of the recipe. I think you’ll like it…………
Chilean Sea Bass Over A Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Medley
Ingredients:
- I container grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 large yellow onion, cubed
- 1 butternut squash, skinned and cubed
- Olive Oil
- 1 cup Quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- 4 (6-8 oz.) pieces of Chilean Sea Bass
Directions:
- Roasted Vegetables: Place tomatoes, onions, and butternut squash on a foil lined baking sheet and drizzle gently with olive oil. Toss to coat.
- Place in a 425F degree oven and roast for approximtely 20 minutes or until fork tender - remove from oven.
- Quinoa: Rinse quinoa well then place in a saucepan with 2 cups of water - following manufacturers directions. When most of the liquid in gone add spinach, stirring until wilted and bright green.
- Sea Bass: In a deep saucepan add water deep enough that it will cover the Sea Bass when it is added.
- Bring water to a boil. Add Sea Bass - turn heat off - cover with lid.
- Leave Sea Bass in hot water with lid on for 20 minutes.
- Plate: Add roasted vegetables to the quinoa mixture adding salt & pepper to taste, if desired. In a bowl or plate add a mound of the roasted vegetable quinoa medley and top each with a 6-8 ounce piece of Sea Bass. Be sure to remove the Sea Bass from the water with a slotted spatula, that will drain the water. This is my favorite fish spatula from Williams Sonoma.
- Optional: Drizzle with fresh herbs. Serve.
Note: Whenever purchasing fish I recommend checking the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website to be sure you're purchasing the best fish possible. Here's what they say about Sea Bass.